This is mostly to act as an outlet for my thoughts pertaining to music. I review albums and EPs. Not much but it’s all I got lol. I’ll try to post a few albums weekly and since I’ve been saving up, this week I’ll be posting a double to clear out my backlog while mixing with newer reviews. Hope you enjoy.
Better Oblivious Community Center– Better Oblivious Community Center [Dead Oceans 2019]
Ignore the concept insomuch as it attempts to create a narrative, the real joy here is the chemistry between the clear eyed veteran and the ambitious neophyte. The two have always worked better in groups than solo as they respectively need grounding and pushing to grant the subjects based in their ideas verisimilitude. As tunes, the highlights are the inertial seesaw of “Sleepwalkin'”, “Dylan Thomas’s” phat rip of a coda, and “Forest Lawn’s” effervescent lull. As a passing of the torch it calls very little attention to itself even with the sly half references to Bright Eyes and other quotables littered throughout. Be not irate at the shallow and consciously throwaway qualities attached to it, the subtle beauty it evokes is where it’s at. Getting off work in the summer, like most summer activities, creates nearly tangible magical realism, and is a kind of escapism that should be universal to the human experience and worth enjoying as much as it can be. 3.7/5
Boygenius-boygenius [EP Matador 2018]
For the boys who question why all the hoopla buildup to what they surmise to be just another super-group coming together, I’d recommend they turn off the Mac DeMarco for the less than thirty minutes this ditty takes to listen to. Of their respective timbres, Dacus’s warmth, Bridgers’s delicate wisp, and Baker’s binary of icy mid-range or earth shattering wail are both main and supporting cast. Natch the title is an in-joke about the sexism these talented young women have had to face and it shows – though part of me is sure that the frustrated intro and escapist outro have more to do with craft than people. The point? The sadness is only superficial which should come as a surprise to no one, not really anyway. Rather, the ebullience that they exemplify comes through in their ethereal harmonies; each individually reaching pitches worthy of the sublime, evidenced by the dopamine you can feel released in real time compounded by the in tandem winking self-seriousness they exude. Their teamwork and discipline shine brightest when all are given a chance in the spotlight, a reason why instead of the oft raved about “Me and My Dog” I’ve come to prefer “Souviner”’s quietly strummed ennui. It shouldn’t be a surprise when those hoopla boys hope there’s more on the way. I know I do. 4.2/5
Foxing – Nearer My God [Triple Crown 2018]
This fourth wave of their scene has shown it draws much of its inspiration from groups who understood how to be the personification of Modest Mouse’s “Heart vs. Brain,” whilst falling under “indie” in sound but not acceptance. The tie between indie and these guys is so close in fact that plenty of artists who fall under the umbrella term have become involved with their genre hands on. Foxing was always polished when they could be, and here Murphy’s lyrics are no less cryptic when he wants them to be–but with Chris Walla as their producer, they’re spit polished to a shine. This yields, what else, the most accessible songs of their career. “Grand Paradise” palpably builds until the song cracks down the middle, meanwhile the most talked about line come from the title track when Murphy yowls how much he wants it all. It’s one of the moments of vulnerability that fans of this band have come to express appreciation for. So is it a little bloated and a little overproduced? Yes but it must be contextualized in the greater narrative of rock that has an emotional appeal, especially the kind that Walla has perfected in crafting over the course of his career. For a long time so many indie bands became the kind of watered down slog in an effort to be commercial that the very aesthetics of the movement initially formed to rally against. Nearer My God attempts and mostly succeeds to reclaim earnest ambition and catharsis in the form of first person narrative. 4.2/5
La Dispute – Panorama [Epitaph 2019]
Their shortest is, not confoundingly, their most surface level. Previously Dreyer’s lyrics (prose? Maybe. Literature? Meh) would be backed by the apt noizez of his bandmates to give a sense of vividness to his impressionism. And yet as I listened I grew frustrated, feeling myself attempt to force enjoyment until I followed that attempt to its roots in how the music shares the same unfortunate disposition. As subject matter the distance between two towns in Michigan used to reinforce the emotional difference between the nearly trauma-less Dreyer and his pieced-back-together girlfriend as they travel is laudable and ambitious, conjured poignantly as: “you gave me strength to fix myself/I gave you tokens, toys, and gifts to help” followed by honest to god brass. But what should leave a listener at least skeptical if not full blown suss is the constant invocation of healing crystals. It’s even on the goddamn Spotify art for each track. 3.4/5
Cosmic Hero 